VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has added two new components to its Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative to help curb child and forced labour in the mining supply chain, and to provide the information needed for companies to demonstrate their responsible sourcing of minerals and metals, the association announced on Monday.

Despite Canada having rigorous legal measures in place to prevent child and forced labour, this action was undertaken because MAC’s TSM initiative has been expanding internationally. These additions to TSM build on the programme’s commitment to continuously improve the social and environmental performance of the industry, the MAC said in a statement.

“The steps we are taking today send a powerful signal that the Canadian mining industry is absolutely committed to the international effort to prevent and eradicate instances of child and forced labour in the global mining industry and the wider mining supply chain. This is an enriching and exciting opportunity to work with corporate leaders to ensure they have the information they need to take comfort that the metals and minerals used in their products are being mined responsibly and respectfully,” stated president and CEO Pierre Gratton.

This work also responds to the needs of organisations such as the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition to ensure and demonstrate that such labour practices have no place in their supply chains. For example, Apple’s recently-updated Supplier Responsibility Standards included TSM, but noted that the programme did not cover child or forced labour. This prompted the MAC to act to strengthen TSM in this important area.

The new measures incorporated into TSM are designed to ensure that child labour and forced labour have no place in mines that participate in the programme. Participating companies are required to commit to “respecting the rights of our workers and not engaging in practices of forced or child labour, as defined in International Labour Organisation Conventions 29, 138 and 182”. 

To ensure that this commitment is being adhered to, independent verifiers will assess whether participating mines have processes in place to ensure that there are no instances of child and forced labour in their business.

This enhancement to TSM also builds on MAC’s recent announcement of a new membership commitment requiring member companies to implement the ‘Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights’. By adding these additional requirements, TSM is well-positioned as a go-to standard for the global mining industry.